


In The Walls

by obwjam



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Borrowers - Freeform, G/T, GT, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Reader-Insert, References to The Borrowers, borrower au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-27 12:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16703074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obwjam/pseuds/obwjam
Summary: borrower!reader lives in scott lang's walls and well... it's hard to stay hidden from ant-man





	1. Chapter 1

Ever since becoming Ant-Man, Scott has been more… perceptive. He sees when even the littlest thing around his house changes; maybe the wind blew a piece of paper upside down, or Cassie knocked into a plant while she was playing. Scott noticed everything now, and the bits of missing food were no exception. The peanut that was resting sideways on top of the other peanut was missing. There was a small chunk of cookie taken out of the side. The faucet was dripping.

Scott used to chalk up any of the missing food he noticed to ants. But of course, now that he told them “please don’t take my food anymore,” the fact that things were still going missing puzzled him.

So, naturally, he set up a stake-out.

He didn’t really know what he was looking for—a mouse, maybe? He had put a small piece of cheese on the counter and ducked behind the couch, binoculars fixated on the food. He had his Ant-Man suit on, just in case something crazy happened. He hadn’t used it since Germany, but this felt like a situation where being small could benefit him. He had actually figured out how to put it on without disturbing his ankle monitor.

So, he waited. And waited. And waited. Until finally, there was movement. It first came from behind the toaster, where Scott noticed the cord had shifted. His eyes followed along the back of the counter to where a cereal box rattled a bit.

“This is it…” Scott said to himself. With that much movement, it  _had_  to be a mouse. But he looked away for a moment to itch his leg, and when he looked back up, the cheese was gone.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” he yelled, clicking the side of his helmet. He ran toward the counter and shrunk, skidding to a stop next to the napkin he laid the cheese on. He whipped his head to the left and saw the tail end of something running behind the toaster.

“There you are. My food stealer!” Scott ran behind the toaster and raised his eyebrow when he saw a hole in the wall.  _Has that always been there?_

Nonetheless, he leaped through and gasped when he laid his eyes upon an intricate work of tunnels. Nails in the boards seemed to make ladders and stepping stones both vertically and horizontally along walls. String hung from places so high it disappeared from view. What was all this?

Again, movement caught his eye.

“Wait!” Scott called out, running toward the movement. “I-I know you can’t understand me, but, uh, please stop taking my food!”

He used his instincts to trust that the way he was running was the right one. He jumped along nails and used the splintering wood to keep up with this mouse.

He kept running before suddenly bumping into something that shrieked, nearly falling over. He looked back to see he had bumped into… another person.

“Sorry, sorry!” he said. “I-I’m just trying to catch this mouse that keeps taking all my food!”

You watched, absolutely bewildered, as a man the same size as you in the strangest clothes you had ever seen had just… whizzed past you. You didn’t know there was another Borrower in here! Or a mouse…

Scott kept running, wondering why someone else was parading in his walls.

And then he stopped.  _Wait… wait. What the hell?_

He turned back around. You were frozen, staring at him, eyes wide and cheese in your hand. Slowly, Scott walked up to you.  _This… this is who has been taking all my food? Who is this person? Why are they so small? They’re not even wearing a suit._

The mysterious man walked back over to you. He was wearing the strangest helmet you have ever seen. In fact, you had never even  _seen_  a Borrower wear a helmet. And he had on a skin-tight suit? Was he one of those obsessed with human culture and he was trying out his Halloween costume?

“Hi,” he waved his hand. “I-I’m Scott. I—”

“Are you another Borrower?” you blurt, groaning in your head at how stupid that question was. Of course he is.

 _A Borrower… what is a Borrower?_  That’s what Scott was thinking in his head. That’s what he was going to ask. But for some godforsaken reason, he responded with “Yes.”

Your eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh! Wow. I-I’ve never met another one of us here before. T-this is crazy. I thought I was the only one. Where have you been living all this time?” You pointed up. “I live up there, next to the human’s bedroom.”

 _The human?_ Scott wondered before realizing that they were talking about  _him_.

“U-Uh, that’s where I live too,” Scott said awkwardly, not really thinking. “B-but on the other side of the wall, of course.”

You raised an eyebrow. You would have seen him  _for sure_  if that was the case. But you shrugged it off. You were talking to another Borrower, after all.

“I-I don’t want to be rude, but, where did you get those clothes?” you asked.

Scott panicked. What was he supposed to say? Oh, this is my high-tech super suit that allows me to grow and shrink at the push of a button?

“These are my… pajamas.”

“Your pajamas? You wear a helmet to bed?”

 _Duh!_  “I-I wear this when I leave my room—my room, next to the other room—the, uh, human room, like you said… in the walls.”

Okay, something was definitely up with this guy. You just couldn’t quite place what.

“W-well, I grabbed this piece of cheese from the counter,” you said, holding it out. It was about the size of a basketball. “Do you want some?”

Scott just stood there, lost for words. Thankfully, you kept going.

“It was crazy. It was just sitting right out there! Right on a napkin too. The human hasn’t left his house in so long, I’ve lost count of how many days it’s been. I haven’t had food this clean in forever…” you trailed off, noticing how convenient this borrowing was when you said the details out loud. Then, it clicked.

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“I-it was a trap,” you said, frantically looking around. “T-the human obviously left it there as a trap! Oh my god, now he knows I’m here.” You stopped to take a breath before remembering something this new Borrower said earlier. “Wait, didn’t you say there was a mouse trying to take your food?”

“Yeah, b-but—”

“Oh, god, that’s even worse,” you panicked. “The human knows I’m here  _and_  there’s a mouse. I… we gotta get out of here,” you said, grabbing his wrist. “Come on.”

“Get out of here? Where are we going?”

“We have to leave the house!” you said like he asked the world’s dumbest question. “We can’t stay here if the human  _knows_.”

The two of you ran—well, you ran, and Scott was dragged along. He was in too deep now, and you seemed to have a real resentment for him.

“What’s your name?” Scott asked, wanting to know more.

“(Y/n),” you said in between breaths.

“What’s so wrong with humans, (y/n)?” Scott asked as you skidded to a stop. You began pulling a rope down for the platform. “The ones I’ve talked to are… nice.”

You stopped pulling. “You… you’ve talked to humans before?”

“Oh yeah, plenty of times. They’re pretty cool, for the most part. What’d they ever do to you?”

You were absolutely floored.

“Y-you’re lucky,” you said grimly, pulling the rope again. “I used to know a few Borrowers who talked with humans. They started out curious, but then…” you trailed off. “I never saw them again. It’s why I’m here, alone. It became too risky to live with the others.”

Scott felt his stomach sink. “How long have you been here?”

“About two years,” you said, the platform finally coming into view. “It’s been pretty nice. The human is pretty unassuming.” Scott wasn’t sure if he should take offense to that or not. “How long have  _you_  been here?” you asked as you stepped onto the platform. He looked at you funny.

“Well? Aren’t you getting on?”

“O-oh, right.”

Scott stepped on and held the rope as you let it go, the two of you flying up.

“So?”

“W-well, I’ve been here… as long as I can remember,” he responded, still looking in awe at the contraption he was on.

“Really? It’s really weird that I’ve never run into you before.”

“I… go out a lot,” Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But not lately, really.” He looked down at his ankle. He could feel the monitor still strapped on.

“Huh.”

There were a few beats of silence.

“Did you build this?”

You were surprised by his question. How else would it have got here?

You nodded. “How do you get between the levels?”

“The stairs,” Scott said before shutting his lips closed. He was not good at this.

“I’m sorry, the what?” you asked, but you didn’t get a chance to hear his answer. You had reached the top.

“Come on,” you said, running. “We’re gonna stop by my room first, and then we can go to yours.”

 _You’re already here,_ Scott thought as he jogged after you. When he reached your room, he let out a small “woah”—there was a ton of little trinkets that Scott had thought he lost over the years, all converted into miniature-sized appliances. A thimble as a water bucket. A spool as a table. Towels rolled up to make a bed. Pins stuck in the wall to use as hooks.

“This is incredible,” he said, quietly enough that you wouldn’t hear him. He looked over at you, frantically stuffing essentials into bags. It was all hitting him in a huge wave—little people existed. They didn’t need suits. It was physically possible to live and prosper at this size. Wait, is this where Hank got the idea from?

“Sorry I’m taking so long,” you said, pushing your hair out of your face. “I’m pretty nostalgic.”

Scott walked around, picking things up and turning them in his hands. Sure, being Ant-Man was fun, but he couldn’t imagine living like this all the time. Plus, there was no way these… Borrowers had the heightened strength he had with his suit. He had never truly felt scared with his suit, but you… you didn’t have the ability to grow.

You didn’t know what was nagging you so much about this guy. He was definitely the weirdest Borrower you have ever met, but he was… familiar in a way. You felt like you already knew him.

“Can I ask you something?”

Scott’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, he was done for.

He turned to you and nodded.

“What you said before. A-about talking to humans… h-how did you get out of it alive?”

Scott felt a pang in his stomach.

“W-what?”

“Everyone I’ve ever known who was caught by a human died. They just disappeared. H-How on earth could you talk to  _multiple_ humans and still be… here?” Your head was spinning. Nothing about this guy made sense.

Scott sighed. He felt awful about how horrible humans were. But maybe this was his chance to let you see that they weren’t all bad. After all, Scott at least understood the overwhelming feeling of being so small.

“Come here, I want to show you something,” he said, walking toward where you entered. “How do you get to the bedroom from here?”

Silently, you walked him out to the entrance of the bedroom.

“A-are you sure? The human could be in there.”

“Oh, I can promise you he isn’t,” Scott said, leaping through the crack in the wooden panels. He looked around and instantly recognized that you were on his dresser. You followed him through, utterly confused as to what he wanted to show you.

“Hey, man,” you said, blanking on his name. “I don’t really think this is—”

“I’ve talked to the guy who lives here before,” Scott said, not comfortable with referring to himself as “the human.”

Your jaw dropped. “You  _what_?”

“He’s pretty relaxed. And super nice, actually. Pretty good looking, too.”

You blinked.

“I’ve come to find that if you just give humans a chance, they can actually be very kind and understanding people.”

Your confusion was slowly turning to anger. Of all things, you didn’t expect this weirdo to be a human apologist,  _especially_  after what you had told him just moments ago.

“N-now, j-just stay here,” he said, inching toward the edge of the dresser. “And, please, promise me you won’t freak out.”

You didn’t even know what to say. “Uh—wait, wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” you shouted. He had just… thrown himself off the dresser. This guy was a complete lunatic. He was going to  _die_  from that fall.

 _If there is a God… well, there are some Gods, I-I guess—please, please don’t have this little thing be scared of me,_  Scott thought as he stared at the red button on his hand. Slowly, he pressed it and shot back to normal size.

You fell backward and almost choked on your breath. Did he just… grow?

You looked in pure horror. You were now staring  _up_  at the same Borrower you were face-to-face with a few seconds ago. This guy… this guy was no Borrower.

“No, no, no…” you muttered. You shook in your shoes and clutched onto the bag you still had flung over your shoulder as the person pressed the side of his mask. It folded back, and your stomach could have dropped through the floor as his name finally came back to you. It was him. The human.  _Scott_.

He walked toward you and you scrambled back, looking behind you for the hole in the boards. How was this even possible? Were you dreaming? Was this some kind of cruel, elaborate prank by him because you took his cheese?

“H-hey, please don’t be scared,” he said, crouching down. He had a soft smile on his face and his cheeks were red with embarrassment. It was so strange actually looking at someone so small. They looked so… helpless.  _Is that what I look like to everyone else?_

He started to reach his hand out before you flung your arm up to cover your face, prompting a look of sorrow from Scott. “I know this is super weird, but…”

He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before you passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall! so this is something i posted on my tumblr (same username) back in august. i really love this story and i love ant-man so as the hype builds up to captain marvel and A4 i'm gonna try and update and post new marvel stuff! this is obvs g/t focused but i've always wanted to try other reader-inserts, so if you want to see non-g/t marvel stuff let me know :)


	2. Chapter 2

Scott was  _not_  expecting that. He thought you’d scream, or run away, but  _pass out_? He was temporarily stunned before snapping out of his shock— he had to see to it that you were okay. He ran into the bathroom and got a small washcloth. He gently slipped his hand under your unconscious body and placed it on the towel.

“Water. They need water,” Scott muttered as he slid down the stairs. He filled up a small cup that Cassie had gotten him as part of a doll set (it was still pretty big when he shrunk, but it was useable), grabbed a few Saltines and rushed back up to his room.

“There you go, bud,” he said, gently placing the food and drink next to the towel.

“I’ll just, uh…” Scott flipped his helmet backed up and pressed the button, shrinking back down. He sat next to you and waited for 30 minutes before you finally came to.

_“…come on, (Y/n), please wake up!”_

You groaned and rubbed your eyes, which sent a sting through the back of your head. Your head! It was throbbing. You let the pain fade away before trying to remember what just  _happened_. You pushed up with your hands, and immediately you were met with something… soft. You looked down. You were sitting on a… towel?

“Oh! Thank god you’re awake.”

You froze. Why was there someone talking to you?

Your eyes snapped open, and you remembered. The borrower. Your room. The dresser.  _Scott_. He had shrunken back down again and was now standing next to you, which just boggled your brain even more.

You felt your hands starting to shake as you tried to push yourself up. Your arms were jelly.

“P-please…” you whimpered. You weren’t even sure why you were whimpering that considering you were the same height now, but that was all you could get out before he started talking.

“It’s me! Scott. Are you alright?”

You nodded your head yes, a little confused. He was acting like nothing happened.

“I’m really sorry,” he said softly. “I-I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything like that.” He pointed next to you. “There’s some food and water.”

 _‘Well, congrats on failing!’_ you thought, but couldn’t bring yourself to say. You could only try and make sense of things, and right now, you  _really_  needed some sustenance. Slowly, you crawled off the towel and walked over to the water cup, which was more like a bucket, but you were able to grab the sides and drink it. You nibbled a bit off the side of a Saltine, savoring the taste of fresh cracker. Once your body felt close to normal again, you turned to Scott, who looked a bit scarier in that mask than he did before.

“S-So… y-you’re not a b-borrower,” you said dumbly, instantly regretting it.  _Of course he’s not_.

Scott laughed lightly. “No, I’m not. Honestly, I’m still not really sure what that is.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Well, you’re…” you gestured toward him. “And I’m…”

The light went off in Scott’s head and he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” you blurted, “I’m just, I’m so confused. How… what are you?”

“This suit allows me to grow and shrink at the push of a button,” Scott pointed his finger to the button on his hand. “Trust me, I don’t really know how it works either. I just wear it.”

“But… why?”

Scott shrugged. “Well, it’s pretty great for stealing stuff.”

You scoffed. “What do you even need to steal? You can just go anywhere and take anything. You’re a  _human_.”

Scott brushed off how uncomfortable he got when you called him “human” like it was a bad thing.

“Well, it’s not that easy! You’re not supposed to take things that aren’t yours.” He looked down to his feet. What a hypocrite he was saying all this. “People get… real defensive about that stuff.”

“Yeah, like when you set up a trap for me so you could catch me?” you snapped at him.

Scott let out a nervous laugh. “I thought you were a mouse or something—”

“Why did you pretend to be a borrower?”

Scott went silent. You kept going.

“You don’t… I don’t know much about humans, but I do know that they get to see other humans a lot. It’s not th-the same for us! Borrowers are lucky if we get to see others… ever. I really thought you were…”

“What? Don’t you have… parents?”

You shook your head. “I mean… yeah. I do. Did. It’s… it’s pretty easy to become separated.”

Scott got the gist of what you were saying and did  _not_  want to press further. 

“(Y/n), I’m really sorry for scaring you before. I shouldn’t have pretended to be a borrower and I definitely should not have just… grown out of nowhere. But I was just so fascinated by you I wanted to keep following you!”

You weren’t sure if you should be flattered or creeped out.

“Look, I know you have this… perception that all humans are bad. A-and I’m sure some of us are. Or have been. But… I’ve been stuck in this same house for nearly two years now.” He saw your confused expression. “I know, long story. But I feel awful that you’ve just been… hiding that whole time! I really could have used some company.”

“Why would you ever want me for company?” You didn’t mean to ask that, but you couldn’t stop yourself. “I mean, I steal your food… among other things.” You definitely whispered that last part. “And, I mean… well, look at me. You can be huge. Why would you choose to be small?”

Scott smiled and put his hand on your shoulder, which made you jump. “It doesn’t matter what your height is, (Y/n)! A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Scott was proud of his reference before realizing that there was zero chance you’ve ever even heard of Horton Hears a Who. “Well, anyway. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m not going to do anything to you or trick you or anything like that. I just want you to know that I’m here for you! And… I can help.”

You were confused. Why would a human want to help you? But you suppose he did bring you food… and water… and something soft to sleep on…

“How?”

“Well…” he hovered his thumb over the button, and your eyes widened. You gulped as he shot up to human height and bent down, extending his open palm to you.

“We can start with getting you something better to eat than crackers.”

You nervously eyed his gloved hand.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure normal ol’ humans would be clumsy, but me? I’m not your normal human,” Scott joked with a smile.

“You sure got that right…” you muttered, stepping onto his hand. Scott flinched slightly, not really anticipating what it would feel like to have a tiny person climb onto his hand. It was almost… comforting.

“You ready?” he asked. You nodded warily, clinging onto the fabric as Scott stretched out to his full height and carefully walked downstairs. He didn’t really know what to expect having a tiny person actually ride around in his hand, but it was almost cute, watching you bob around to the movement of his hand. He could feel your tiny fingers gripping his glove.

“I can’t believe this…” you said to yourself. You watched, half in amusement and half in frustration, as the world it takes you an entire day to navigate was suddenly behind you in seconds. Going to the kitchen and back is a multi-hour journey in a house as big and old as this, and Scott just bounded down the stairs like it was nothing.

He set you down on the counter. It made you anxious sitting out in the open like this, but you had to keep reminding yourself that Scott was friendly. He was  _fine_.

“Okay, so, I don’t know if you saw, but Cassie and I made tacos a few nights ago and I still have a ton of leftovers.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out some hamburger, cheese, lettuce and tomato. “I’m just gonna go ahead and heat this up.” He turned back to you and smiled to himself at your look of awe. “I’m betting you’ve never really had hot food, huh?”

You shook your head. You certainly couldn’t remember the last time you had something at its proper temperature, hot or cold.

“Everything is either… lukewarm or stale,” you said, laughing a bit at how ridiculous it was to tell a human that. Scott laughed along with you.

“Well, that’s just not right.” He took the taco meat out of the microwave and pulled out a tiny strip for you. He put a single chunk of tomato, a shred of lettuce and a few small pieces of cheese on top and slid it in front of you, breaking a small piece of taco shell and placing it on top.

“Well, it’s nothing special…” Scott said, taking a big bite out of his own food. “Eat up!” he said with a full mouth.

You didn’t need to be told twice. You finished your food before he finished his, and it was easily the best meal you ever had in your entire life. Hot food… hot food was  _delicious_. Scott snickered watching you scarf down food at an almost alarming rate.

“Good, huh?”

You nodded happily.

“Good. Now I think we should—”

It was then that Scott’s phone began to buzz. He pulled it out: An unknown number. He raised an eyebrow but figured he’d take the call anyway.

“Heyo, this is Scott La—”

“Scott, what the _hell_  are you doing with my suit?!”

Scott’s stomach dropped. Of all the times to get back in touch…

“H-Hank! Uh, I-I can explain—”

“Save it. Germany was bad enough, Scott. But now you’re using my suit for personal adventures through your house?!”

“Hank, I—wait, how did you even know I was using the suit?”

“We keep tabs on everyone who’s a security threat, and that includes you!” Hope’s voice shouted from somewhere in the background. “We didn’t want to have to talk to you ever again, but we couldn’t just…”

Scott stopped listening to Hope. He stopped listening to the voices coming from the other end of the line altogether. He cringed at the thought of Hank and Hope watching his every move for almost two years, but he quickly forgot about it when his eyes landed on you, looking at Scott fearfully from the counter. His stomach panged when he realized that if they saw him in the suit, they must have seen you, too.

“Listen, Hank,“ Scott cut him off, “I know what this looks like, but I promise, you’re just seeing things.”

“HOW CAN I BE SEEING THINGS? YOU’RE WEARING MY SUIT RIGHT NOW!”

“Yes! Okay! I’m wearing the suit. But I’m the only one here! I swear!”

“Scott, what the hell are you—”

That’s when the ant cams found their way toward you, exposed and vulnerable out on the counter. That’s when Hank saw, for the first time in over 30 years, a real life borrower. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fun continues

 

_I can’t believe this. After all this time._

“Hank? Hello?”

_In Scott’s god damn house, of all places…_

“Are you still there? Hellooooooo?”

“Scott… what is that on your counter?”

Scott froze, his wide eyes practically trembling along with the rest of him. Once your gaze locked with his, you could practically feel his fear burning in your body. You were not averse to that type of fear. That was a  _very_  specific type of fear.

“S-S-Scott…” you whimpered. How was this happening? Who was he talking to?

“Uh… i-it’s nothing! It’s nothing,” he repeated, eyes not leaving you. “I don’t even—what are you even looking at?”

Scott cringed as he could practically feel Hank rolling his eyes on the other end of the line.

“I may be old, but I’m not blind, Scott. I can see—”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Scott said, and he swiftly took the roll of paper towels sitting a few feet from you and moved it in front of you. You yelped and scurried back a bit.

“Scott, cut the crap. I can  _see them._ ”

Scott laughed nervously. “H-Hank, come on, I know that you’re mad at me a-and all, but this is a weird prank to be pulling, don’t you think?”

As you listened to Scott trying to finesse his way through his phone call, something caught the corner of your eye. You didn’t see a lot of other movement, but when you did, it was almost always trouble. You gasped and tensed up as three ants, with some weird black box mounted on top, were pattering toward you.

“This is incredible…” Hank said. “They appear to be young, too…”

“Hank, what are you—” Scott began, but stopped. It dawned on him how Hank was seeing all of this. He quickly turned around and snatched the paper towel roll up, revealing you as you were scampering away from the ants.

“God damn it,” Scott mumbled. He took his free and slowly moved it behind you, gently scooping you up once you backed into his palm.

It was actually  _less_  scary being suddenly lifted up in the air than being chased by giant ants. You found yourself clinging to the folds of Scott’s skin as the ants became smaller and smaller on the counter below you.

“Why’d you have to freak them out like that, Hank?” Scott borderline screamed into the phone.

“Put them down, Scott!” Hank yelled back. For some reason, that got Scott really angry.

“No! I will NOT put them down! They’re just a person, Hank, not some kind of… science experiment!”

Hank went silent for a moment. You were shaking, deeply concerned with what Scott just said. On the one hand, you were glad that Scott was thinking this way. But you were concerned with  _why he even had to say that._

The ants were still staring up at you from the counter, despite Scott trying to get them to turn around.

“Call off the ants, Hank,” Scott said with a lot of authority in his voice.

After a few beats of silence, Hank sighed. The ants turned around and soon disappeared from view.

“Thank you, H—”

_Click._

“That son of a…” Scott muttered, stuffing his phone into his pocket. He turned down to you, a look of worry plastered on his face.

“I’m, I’m so sorry about that,” he said with a sorrowful smile. “I—”

“Who  _was_  that?” you said, your voice cracking.

“Hey, hey,” Scott said, bringing his hand closer to his face. You backed up. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Hank can get a little… intrusive sometimes. But you don’t have to worry about him.”

“Who’s… who’s Hank?” you asked.

“Hank Pym? He’s the guy who made my suit!” Scott said cheerfully. “He’s really into all that growing and shrinking stuff. I used to work with him, but…” he glanced down to his ankle monitor. “Things kind of went sour.”

“Does he…” you took a breath before continuing. “Does he know about me? A-And what was up with those  _ants?_ ”

Scott gulped. This was really gonna suck.

“W-Well, Hank’s thing is… ants. I know. He has cameras on some and neurologically controls them and, well… I guess he’s been spying on me for a while.” He glanced at you for your reaction, but your face was locked in a state of anxiety. “A-Anyway… he must have saw you on the counter. W-well, he  _obviously_  saw you when the ants were… you know, staring at you…”

“Oh, this is so bad…” you mumbled. You had gone undiscovered your  _entire life_ , and in the span of an hour, two humans now know about you. And one of them is a scientist…

You buried your head in your hands. You tried to squeeze away the headache that was coming in strong.

Scott watched you with sad eyes, unsure of what he could do at this point. He couldn’t help but feel like it was all his fault.

After all, it kinda was.

“Hey, listen…” he said in such a tone that you looked up. “I’m so sorry for getting you in this mess. You’d probably just rather go back in the walls and never see me again, huh.”

You nodded, but slowly.

“It’s okay. I totally understand,” Scott said softly. He slowly brought his hand back down to the counter, allowing you to jump off. “Let me just get you some fresh food, alright? So you don’t have to come back here for a while.”

He sounded so sad that you almost,  _almost_ felt bad for him.

“I’ll leave stuff out for you, though. So you don’t have to take cold table scraps.”

He walked over to the fridge, rummaged around for a bit, and came back with some fresh fruit. He grabbed a handful of peanuts from the small bowl to the right of you and dumped them in the pile.

“This should last you a little bit,” he said. “Just… let me know if you ever need anything, alright?”

“Okay,” you said quietly, staring in wonder at the food in front of you. You turned up to the human, who had an endearing smile on his face.

“T-Thank you, Scott.”

Scott’s little smile turned into a grin upon hearing that. Maybe, just maybe, you’d come back to visit.

Once your bag was thoroughly stuffed with food, you trudged back toward your hole behind the toaster. You turned around, taking one last look at the scene around you. It really wasn’t going to be the same ever again. You might even, dare you say, miss Scott a little…

Scott stared, marveling your tiny form against the giant toaster. He certainly was never going to forget meeting an actual tiny person. He gave you a small wave as you slipped behind the appliance and out of sight.

 

A week had passed since you last saw him. You still had enough food, but you would be lying if you said he didn’t cross your mind every day. There were a few times you stared at the threshold of the hole next to his dresser, contemplating if you should say hi or even just watch him from a distance.

But that would be too weird. Besides, he hasn’t tried to find you or leave anything for you. Everything was just how it used to be.

If only it would stay that way.

It was a normal morning. You actually were able to sleep in for a change, too. You had finally stopped obsessing over Scott; you spent your late morning tidying up your room and making much-needed repairs to some of your things. It wasn’t until you got to your hook that you realized you would need to go borrowing—your paper clip had been bent so much, it was nearly about to break.

As you walked toward the hole on the kitchen counter, you wrestled with yourself over whether you should ask Scott for help. It had been so long since you took a paper clip that you didn’t even know where he kept them.

You slipped behind the toaster and popped your head around the corner—no Scott. You scurried across the counter, looking in every place you could think of for a paper clip. After nearly 30 minutes of searching, you came to the daunting conclusion that the paper clips must be in a drawer. And you couldn’t do a thing with the hook you had now.

Left with no choice, you sighed and went back in the walls. You didn’t hear the TV, so Scott wasn’t in the living room. You could only assume that he was in his room upstairs.

As you trudged up the nails in the wall, you started to hear the muffled sound of Scott’s voice, confirming he was upstairs. Your stomach was already churning with anxiety (how is he going to react? Is he going to be weird about it? Will he even help me?), but you nearly fell when you heard the unfamiliar rumble of another voice. It wasn’t Cassie, it wasn’t Scott’s ex-wife and it definitely wasn’t her new boyfriend. Unless it was? You decided you could confirm for yourself anyway.

As you reached the hole above his desk, the other person started to come into view. He was wearing a heavy-looking suit, running his hand through his white hair and adjusting his glasses. Was this Scott’s grandfather or something?

You were about to hop back in, not wanting to even get in the middle of this, but it was too late. Scott had seen you, and he couldn’t even move his eyes away. And you couldn’t move, either. It was like you were frozen to your place. You were so scared.

 _Shit shit shit shit SHIT!_  Scott thought as his eyes found you. It was bad timing, really. Scott and Hank were just  _talking_ about you when you decided to pop out, right on cue.

“Scott, what the hell are you starting at?” Hank said, his eyes starting to follow Scott’s gaze.

“Uhh, nothing!” Scott said clumsily, snapping his head back to Hank. But Hank kept looking, and soon enough, he saw you.

When the old man’s eyes found yours, you didn’t know what to do. He was staring at you in wonder, but it was a strange wonder… like it wasn’t his first time seeing a borrower.

“Oh, my gosh…” Hank whispered. All Scott could do was watch as Hank slowly made his way to the dresser. Slowly, he bent down so his face was closer to your level. It was too late to go running away now.

“It’s you…” he breathed. You were shaking.  _This was the guy Scott was talking to on the phone earlier._  “I haven’t seen a borrower for over 30 years.”

“Wait, 30 years?!” Scott said, taking a place next to Hank.

Hank nodded, his mouth slightly agape. “There was a family of them in our house... Janet and I. We suspected there were tiny people, but we had no way of verifying it. They’re so, so sneaky.”

Scott laughed. “Yeah, you got that right.”

You tensed at every word the two humans spoke. Did they not remember you were right there?

“So I started experimenting on the suit technology. I… I’m not proud of this, but we set traps for them. Just so we could verify their existence. We never did anything. In fact, we became pretty good friends with the borrowers in our house.”

Hank watched in amusement as your face changed from fear to curiosity.

“It turns out they were pretty smart!” You scoffed. Of  _course_  you were smart. “They were able to help us put together hard-to-reach parts for the early versions of the suit. Once we got it to work… we would spend time with them in their space, and we would help them with different food and supplies.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Scott said.

Hank nodded. He hadn’t taken his eyes off you since he saw you.

“So what’s your name?”

You gulped. You didn’t expect to have to  _talk_  to him.

Luckily, Scott sensed your apprehension. “That’s (Y/n).”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, (Y/n). I’m Hank Pym.”

After a few beats of silence, Scott again spoke up on your behalf. “I-I think they’re a little scared, Hank. N-no offense,” he said clumsily. You let out a small laugh.

“That’s alright. I understand how you feel,” Hank said softly. You raised your eyebrow, but considering this was the man who invented a way for humans to shrink, you were, at the very least, intrigued by what he had to say.

“You…” you started to speak, temporarily freezing up when Hank’s eyes flared wide for a moment at your voice. “You k-knew other borrowers?”

Hank nodded. “But that was a long, long time ago.”

“A-and you would… st-stay with them?”

“Sometimes. We were nervous about what it would do to us if we stayed shrunken for too long. The longest we ever went was a few days.”

You hopped out from the threshold of the hole, taking a few steps toward the two humans. A few days, huh…

“C-Can I ask you… h-how does that suit work?”

Hank laughed. “Well, it’s pretty complex. But I can show you, if you’d like.”

Scott was almost shocked at how gentle Hank was being, and so were you. But when he laid his hand out in front of you, you instantly stepped back. You didn’t quite feel that comfortable yet.

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” he practically whispered. “I’m just going to take you over to—”

You vigorously shook your head. You had to play it safe.

“I-I think they just need some space,” Scott said nervously. What was Hank doing?

You stared up at him with terrified eyes. You were too scared to run even if he made a move at you. Suddenly, Hank withdrew his hand from the desk and stood up to his full height, which made your stomach churn.

“I’m going to help myself to a glass of water downstairs,” Hank grumbled. Before Scott could say anything, he was out the door.

Scott turned back to you, causing you to flinch. “I-I’m… I’m sorry, I don’t even know what that was all about.”

You nodded.

“He’s probably just weirded out, o-or something,” he stammered. You stared at him for a moment before he spoke again.

“W-Well, if you want to join us for a glass of water, I’d be happy to take you down. But you probably just want to go.”

Your instinct was to bolt back to your room, but for some reason, you didn’t want to. Despite not wanting to be handled by Hank, you still were curious about how exactly the suit works. If it could make humans tiny…

“I’ll go,” you said quietly.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you arou—wait, did you say you’d go?”

You nodded. “J-Just please go slow.”

“Oh, yeah, of course!” Scott said, lowering his hand down in front of you. You climbed on, clinging to his thumb as he, very slowly, lifted you up.

You had to get your hands on one of those suits.


End file.
